


Brilliant

by wastelandzbaby



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: (it's literally canon guys), Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Doctor (Doctor Who), Canon Non-Binary Character, Drabble, Gender Identity, Gender Related, Gender Roles, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderqueer Character, LGBTQ Themes, One Shot, Present Tense, Regeneration, Self-Indulgent, Short, Short One Shot, agender/genderfluid doctor, also:, and the companions are only briefly mentioned too, bc i can't characterise them right bhcvjbcvhn, i haven't seen past 11x2 so nothing plotwise is mentioned, it's not mentioned but i always write them as a fellow autie so, the doctor uses they/he/she
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 13:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18830077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastelandzbaby/pseuds/wastelandzbaby
Summary: Clara asks them for pronouns, a little while after their talk about Gallifreyan gender. The Doctor tilts their head at her, eyebrows furrowing, and says that they don't care."You humans and yourgenders," they scoff, shaking their head and turning back to the TARDIS console. "socaught upin things that don't matter."[ or: i'm nb and like projecting ]





	Brilliant

**Author's Note:**

> so ngl?? it makes me a lil uncomfy that nobody asked 13 for pronouns and just... assumed they use she/her bc they "look female" or w/e  
> and as an afab trans person (he/they pls) that made me a lil H  
> especially after that entire discussion in s10 abt time lords not using human genders / them literally making nb!doctor canon  
> so this was born!
> 
> quick warning: i've seen no further than 11x2 at the time of writing this, so if anything's a little off, please dismiss it as canon divergence. the only doctor i've ever written before is 11, so excuse any ooc stuff from 12 & 13 - though this has minimal dialogue, so i doubt it'll be too much of an issue.

The Doctor has eyes like dying stars, and two hearts to hold twice the care.

* * *

Clara asks them for pronouns, a little while after their talk about Gallifreyan gender. The Doctor tilts their head at her, eyebrows furrowing, and says that they don't care.

"You humans and your _genders,_ " they scoff, shaking their head and turning back to the TARDIS console. "so _caught up_ in things that don't matter."

She takes their dismissive answer as what it sounded like - a rejection of humanity's binary, a sense of otherness - and applies it accordingly. They can turn their back and feign apathy all they want, but she doesn't miss the way they brighten when they hear the change.

* * *

It isn't that other pronouns are wrong for them, but rather that they're overused - spend a millennia or three around humans and their outdated binaries, and you get sadly used to being boxed in. It's been lifetimes since they'd ever been a they or a she, never mind the thousands of Gallifreyan pronouns that even the TARDIS couldn't properly translate.

So when Clara begins using the words they've missed, they can't help but smile.

* * *

Missy is not a woman, just like how the Doctor is not a man, and yet she slips so comfortably into the humans' expectations of her.

She acts dainty and dangerous all at once, crossing her knees and painting her lips, and plays the part of a woman to a truly believable extent - but if she decides tomorrow to be a man, then she _will,_ because Missy is like the Doctor, and doesn't care at all for gender.

The Doctor is subject to her joking jabs every so often, tiny whispered cuts at their "lack of variety" in regeneration, at the way they're always so samey, _the handsome eccentric with the magic blue box_ \- and they find themself laughing along, really. It's not as if she's one to judge, a single Missy in a thousand Masters.

* * *

They barely catch a glimpse of themself in the mirror before the TARDIS goes soaring again, sending them flailing and yelping - but the glance they get is enough, and they find themself tangling their slim fingers in their long hair, pretty face splitting into a prettier smile.

"Oh, brilliant," they whisper, and go tumbling out of the TARDIS' front doors, still smiling all the way.

* * *

It takes less time for these newer companions to understand - they're younger, and more modern, and far closer to those on Gallifrey than they'd even realised.

All it takes is a small discussion of gender - or lack thereof, in the Doctor's case - before the humans are smiling, shrugging, saying "Okay".

The Doctor was not a man, and the Doctor is not a woman. That's alright with them, and alright with their companions too.

* * *

They play with pronouns more than Clara did, and the Doctor has to admit that it still makes them giddy, when Yaz calls them he and she in the same sentence.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @lisafrankserialkiller - come talk to me abt nb doctor!!


End file.
